


Happy Birthday, Elio

by Samunderthelights



Series: CMBYN Drabbles : 2020 & 2021 [1]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types
Genre: Bittersweet, Don't copy to another site, Drabble, Eliver - Freeform, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:06:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27601133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samunderthelights/pseuds/Samunderthelights
Summary: Oliver can’t believe it’s been a year already since he had stood here in the exact same spot. He had looked out over the lake, thinking back to that summer all those years ago. He had closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to be transported back to Italy, if even for just a moment.
Relationships: Oliver & Elio Perlman, Oliver/Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN Drabbles : 2020 & 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017865
Comments: 10
Kudos: 41





	Happy Birthday, Elio

Oliver can’t believe it’s been a year already since he had stood here in the exact same spot. He had looked out over the lake, thinking back to that summer all those years ago. He had closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to be transported back to Italy, if even for just a moment. But the cold November air was cutting right through him, and it had only made him feel even more removed from that summer than usual.

It had left him feeling older, and even more restless in his own life. It had taken him weeks, if not months to feel right in his own skin again after that.

He had even considered not coming back here again. But he knew he could not let today pass without some kind of acknowledgment. So he had found himself coming back here again, that same wistful, longing feeling inside of him. That feeling of wanting to go back, but finding himself left with nothing but memories.

He had written a numerous amount of letters to Elio over the years, but he had never been able to send them. What good would it do after all this time? So every year he had brought them here with him, and he had read them, as he sat thinking about where they would be if he had been brave enough to send them. What would their lives have looked like?

Every year he had come here, and he had been able to think about a life that should have been theirs.

For just one day in the year, he was able to go back in time and make things right. But he always knew he would have to return to his other life eventually. His wife, his children.

Today he holds just one letter in his hand. The one he had written after he had come here last year. The one in which he told Elio that he had to say goodbye to him. He had to let go of the past, of whatever they had had, because he knew that the pain would only get worse as the years went by.

He had held onto it though, because he knew he would never be able to let go of what they had. What they perhaps still have. He knows he will come back here, and he _will_ remember. And one day the memories _will_ become too painful. On that day he knows he will have to ask himself a question, one which deep down he already knows the answer to.

Today he will go back to his family. But one day he won’t have to come here to have just one moment with Elio again. One day they will find each other again.

He looks down at the letter in his hand, before throwing it into the bin, a hopeful smile on his face, wondering whether he’ll be with the man he loves by this time next year.

“Happy birthday, Elio.”

**Author's Note:**

> https://samunderthelights.tumblr.com/


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